The Evolution of 20th Century Architecture – A Synoptic Account

Description

In the limited space that l have at my disposal, it is obviously impossible to give a truly global history of the evolution of twentieth century architecture. Instead I have attempted to trace different ideological trajectories as these have crossed and re-crossed each other in the course of the century. Hence, I have tried to compile a genealogy rather than a history, and for this reason it is an account which has a markedly fragmentary character due in large measure to what one can only call conceptual fluctuations; that is to say the way in which certain ideas rise to the surface at a given moment, are elaborated and after a while abandoned, only to re-emerge later in a different form. Because of this waxing and waning of these ideas over time, this account will often depart from a strict chronological sequence. To this end, the material is treated under four different headings; Part 1: Avant-Garde and Continuity, 1887-1986, Part 2: The Vicissitudes of the Organic, 1910-1998, Part 3: Universal Civilization and National Cultures, 1935-1998 and Part 4: Production, Place and Reality, 1927-1990. The aim of each section is to trace the evolution of different paradigms and to show how a particular theme or cultural trope manifests itself in various ways under different historical circumstances.

The first of these sections deals with the antagonism between avant-gardism and traditional culture as this was to inform many of the initial phases of the modern movement, particularly up to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and again with some uncertainty in the aftermath that followed in 1945. The second section treats with the concept of the organic, seen as a generic third term between avant-gardism and tradition, one that seems to have been posited as a strategic alternative to either classical or vernacular culture. The third section traces what we may identify as the diaspora of the modern movement as it is disseminates all over the world, first in the European and North American periphery and then in Latin America, Asia and Japan. In this process it transforms itself as it comes into contact with different societies and climates and with the demands imposed by diverse representational and instrumental needs. The fourth and final section treats with the tension between place and technology. That is to say on the one hand with the need to create and maintain the character of a given place as a “space of human appearance” in the face of an ever expanding technological capability which architects must master in some degree in order to maintain their control over the means of building production.

The third term in the title of the fourth part alludes to the way in which the environment as a whole comes to be realized within the historical moment and the way in which the scope of the architectural intervention is necessarily limited by circumstances. In this regard, one recalls Alvaro Siza’s ironically ambiguous aphorism, “architects don’t invent anything, they transform reality”. The apodictic character of this assertion recognizes that the real is always in some sense already given and that the most that one can do is to modify its substance and form across time in a sensitive manner.

Contents Introduction Part 1: Avant-Garde and Continuity 1887-1986 Part 2: The Vicissitudes of the Organic 1910-1998 Part 3″ Universal Civilization and National Cultures 1935-1998 Part 4: Production, Place and Reality 1927-1990 Bibliography Acknowledgement Index